A Change in the Weather
by SpaciousSpace
Summary: Alfred needs to get his senior project done to graduate from high school. His adviser, Ivan, likes his proposal and decides to help him. As they become best friends, will more happen? Student!Alfred/Teacher!Ivan Warning for low self-esteem Alfred.
1. Collide

**A/N:** Hi guys! This is my second fanfiction. Please don't murder me with your words if I mess something up! Thank you so much for reading, I really appreciate it! Note the book Alfred read for his English class is actually the other fanfic I have up, though in this story, it's just a normal love story, not involving rusame.

Alfred looked down at his hands, one perfectly clean while the other had graphite that completely covered the side of his right hand from all the writing. He sighed and sat back in his chair, looking around his room for a little bit as he let his hand relax. He thought of more words he could use in his proposal. His senior project was the main of his life at the moment, and he hardly had time for sports anymore. Every day, he would come home from school, mutter a hello to his father, Arthur, then head up to his room to do his homework. He started with Algebra-Trig, then went on to English. Once all that was done, he began to work more on his senior project proposal.

Today, he was having a difficult time figuring out exactly how to word things. In fact, he was having a terrible day and was beginning to wonder if his project idea would even be accepted. If it wasn't, he would have to go and think of something else to do. This idea was one he really liked, and he wanted to do. However, at this rate he wouldn't be getting his proposal in to his advisor on time. It was due tomorrow, and he was already looking at getting five hours asleep. If he stayed up any later, he might just fall asleep in class and miss all of the important stuff for midterms.

Alfred made a face at his paper, not looking forward to having to stay up any later than it was. He couldn't help it, though. If he had to pull an all-nighter to get this done, he would. He poked one of the buttons on his phone which sat on the corner of his desk. Seeing there were no texts from his friend Kiku, he turned his attention back to his work. A few ideas came to him and he managed to write another paragraph. He looked over the essay and decided it was close to done, figuring out a closing paragraph for it and writing it down. When he looked at the clock again, it was two in the morning; he got up for school in four hours.

Shutting his binder, he flipped his light off and stood from his chair, walking to hit bed and flopping down, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He hadn't even bothered to change out of the clothes he'd worn to school that day, lying in bed in his jeans and Nirvana shirt.

The morning came in a few seconds, it seemed. Alfred's eyes opened as his alarm went off next to his head, the clock on the alarm clock practically vibrating from how low the alarm was. The blond moaned, slapping the power button on the clock as he sat up. He stretched and yawned, wishing he could go back to bed. Instead of that, though, he got up and headed to the bathroom, glancing at his disheveled hair in the mirror before he started the shower. He could feel the bags under his eyes drooping miserably. He stripped down and got in, shampooing his hair and washing his body. Once he was done, he wrapped a towel around his waist and walked back to his room, getting dressed and ready for the day. He threw his textbooks in his backpack, along with his binder and his laptop. He put his glasses on and grabbed his phone and iPod from their respective places, then headed down stairs.

"Morning." Arthur watched as Alfred walked down the stairs, nearly falling on his face as he half missed the bottom step. "Yeah, morning." Alfred poured himself some coffee from the pot Arthur had made already, throwing some creamer in it and putting a lid on the travel mug. He grabbed his keys from the key rack and was about to leave when Arthur's voice stopped him. "And where are you going without eating breakfast?" Alfred rolled his eyes and walked out after grabbing an orange from the counter. He looked at his car, surprised he'd left one of the windows open. He frowned and unlocked his car, throwing his backpack in the passenger seat. Right as he was about to start his car, a little mew came from the back of the car. He turned around, seeing his cat, Cat, laying in the back seat. "What are you doing in here Cat? You shouldn't be in my car." He grabbed the cat and held him close, giving him a few morning cuddles before opening his door and putting the cat in the garage. "Be good, Cat." He gave the cat a stern look before smiling at it, getting a little meow in response.

He returned to his car, getting in and buckling up, starting the car. He pulled out of the driveway, then was on the way to school. He turned the radio up a bit, letting the music float softly through the car. After a good five minutes, he got to school and parked in the senior parking. He grabbed his backpack and got out of the car, shoving his keys in his pocket after he'd locked it. He meandered to the school's main doors, walking into the commons. He had five minutes until classes started, so he sped up a bit to get to his first period: Science. He got there and sat in his seat just as the bell rang. The teacher gave him a stern look as Alfred had given the cat earlier that morning, but said nothing to him. Alfred went through the motions of school, taking notes about juxtaposition and run on sentences as he had every year of high school.

When lunch finally rolled around, Alfred decided to go out to his car and just take a nice nap for the forty minutes allowed for lunch. He walked lethargically to his car, unlocking it and getting in. He completely reclined the driver's seat, laying down and locking his car. He set an alarm on his phone to wake him up two minutes before lunch ended—seven minutes before classes started—and fell asleep. He had no dreams, or at least, he couldn't remember his dream when he woke up thirty-eight minutes later. He was still groggy, but he had to present this period. He got out of his car, grabbing his backpack and his keys, locking the door behind him and going back into the school. He barely made it into class again, taking his seat as the bell rang. His English teacher looked over everyone, smile almost childlike. He had a white scarf around his neck, his jacket long.

"Hello, everyone! Happy Friday!" Some people made small cheering noises, others just smiled and nodded. Alfred opted for the latter of the two, smiling and moving his head around. "Well, hopefully you all have your proposals ready. I need you to hand me that before you leave class, alright? And I trust all of you have your book report ready, so we'll be presenting those today." Alfred was feeling better after his nap, but his stomach clenched as the teacher mentioned presenting. He pulled his laptop from his backpack as a few other kids did, looking expectantly at the teacher. "Who would like to go first?" The teacher looked right at Alfred, smile kind. Some kid in the back piped up. "I'll go first, Mr. Braginski!" Mr. Braginski nodded, looking over at the student. "Certainly. Please turn your proposal in first, then you may go."

The kid nodded, taking a seven page packet and handing it to the teacher before bringing his laptop to the teacher's desk, hooking it up to the projector. "Alright!" He went through his presentation in eight minutes, rambling part of the time about why he would recommend the book and why it's so dramatic in this one part. When he was finished, there was polite applause. "Next?" The teacher looked around, and when no one raised their hand, he smiled a bit. "Alfred, please go next." Alfred made a little face, standing with his proposal in hand. He handed it to Mr. Braginski, sighing as he hooked his laptop up. He pulled up his notes.

"Alright. Well I read this book called Sunflower Seeds. It's about this couple who meet in a flower shop. Stuff happens. They end up together. The end." There was a moment of silence, then the teacher spoke. "Give us more information." There was a smile on Mr. Braginski's face. Alfred thought about how to talk about the story without people knowing it was a romance. "Uh, well, the main character loves sunflowers… And… Um… The other likes roses… And basically, they make flower arrangements all day." The teacher laughed softly, smiling. "Okay, that's enough. I understand what you're doing; I've read the book too." Alfred smiled some. "Ah, thanks." He unhooked his laptop and went to his desk, sitting down with a little blush. He suddenly felt overly awkward. He sat through the rest, though when he looked over at the teacher, he was reading Alfred's proposal with great interest, writing things with a blue pen. Alfred felt his stomach knot, getting the feeling he'd have to come up with a new idea.

After everyone was done, Alfred grabbed his things and started to the door. "Alfred? Could you hang back actually?" Alfred frowned before turning around and walking to the teacher's desk. "About your proposal…" Alfred shook his head, cutting him off. "Yeah, I'll start working on a new one tonight. Sorry." He was about to turn and leave when Mr. Braginski laughed. "Write a new one? This is my favorite one. I'd actually like to assist with whatever I could. Your idea is really great, and I can't wait to see what you do with it. You can have your proposal back, I've graded it already." Alfred took the paper back, looking at the little phrases in the margins. _Where will this be? What variety?_ Alfred smiled. "T-thanks. I, uh, I'll be working on this soon. I'll keep you posted." With that, he waved and walked out of his English class and went to his next class, simply content with how the class went. _Tonight, I'll start planning more. I'll give him the best sunflower garden he's ever seen._


	2. Darkness

**A/N:** Bonus upload today. Here you are, lovelies! Warning for a disturbing nightmare.

Alfred huffed and let his head fall, his forehead slamming against the desk. What did he have so far for his senior project planning? A box. But not just any box; it was a 3D box. The blond just sat there for a while, letting the negative thoughts flow through his mind. _You failure. You can't even plan a fucking flower box. All you have to do is put fucking flowers into a fucking box. You can't do anything right._ He sighed and attempted to push past the ideas that were buzzing about in his head, picking his pencil back up again. He shaded the box in like it would have been if there was a light source coming from the top right corner of the page.

He stared at the page a moment before shaking his head and crumpling the page. _Can't do anything right._ He frowned and took a new piece of paper from the printer, laying it down flat in front of him. He picked his pencil up again and drew another box. This one was from a bird's eye view, and he began to draw rows in the box. He looked at it once he'd drawn all of the lines. _Your lines are crooked, dumbass._ He was getting sick of the words that were reverberating around his mind. "No. They're totally awesome." He shook his head and put the drawing in his senior project binder, sitting back in his chair.

"This is gonna be so totally fine. Like, not even kidding. Most kickass project ever. I'll call it… Project Kickass." Alfred grinned and laughed some, pushing the thoughts from his head and forcing in new ones that were happier. "Hell, it's Saturday. I should get out and go do something. In fact, I should go buy some seeds." He stood from his chair and took a scarf from a rack he had mounted behind his door. He wrapped it around his neck and grabbed his keys and wallet from his desk. He walked down the stairs, passing his father who was asleep in his recliner, the game on the television muted. Alfred opened the door and walked out into the cool air, shutting the door behind him quietly.

He walked to his car, unlocking it and opening the door. He'd left the window open once again, and Cat was laying in the driver's seat. He meowed at Alfred, beginning to purr as he was picked up. Alfred set Cat down in the garage, and then sat in the car, starting it up. He watched as Cat slunk into his corner, falling over on his side and rolling over a few times. Alfred rolled his eyes and pulled out of the driveway, turning to go to the store. He drove along, looking around a bit as he did so. The sky was very gray, and it looked as though it'd be raining later.

Alfred finally got to the store and found a parking spot. It wasn't too busy, thankfully, and he was able to get into the store without almost getting hit by a car. He walked to the back of the store and looked at the variety of seeds. He picked one packet up, looking at the back for information. They needed a lot more water than another packet he picked up afterwards. He decided to grab a few different varieties. He ended up with twelve packs, two of each type. He went to the register, handing over a five and getting two cents back. He shoved the pennies in his pocket, and then thanked the cashier and walked out to his car. He got in and started it up, driving home.

He pulled into the garage, being cautious of Cat who was still sprawled out in his corner. He put the car in park and turned the car off, getting out and picking up Cat, carrying him up to his room with him. Cat decided to jump up on his television to take another cat nap. Alfred sat back down at his desk, tossing the seed packets out on the table. "Alright, I can make this work." _No you can't._ Gritting his teeth, Alfred pulled his drawing from the binder, putting the names of the varieties in very, very small, neat handwriting next to the rows. He nodded to himself, then opened the seed packets. He poured the seeds of one variety into the pack of the same kind, making the amount of packets half of the original amount.

"Well, that ought to help me keep track of these things better." He put the seed packets in the binder with the drawing. He sighed and sat back in his chair once again. He had killed half an hour of his Saturday. He wasn't quite sure what else to do. He could call Kiku, but he didn't really feel like hanging out with him that day. Instead, he decided to take a little nap. He took Cat from the television and flopped onto the bed, listening to the cat's constant motor-sounding purr. Soon enough, he was lulled into a light sleep.

-**ooo**-

Alfred wasn't exactly sure where he was. He knew he had to be somewhere he was familiar with because he could feel he knew the way around already. He began to walk, his steps slow and measured. As he continued walking, his pace began to increase, strides getting longer and faster until finally he was sprinting, and things were getting dark. Then without any reason, he stopped. He stared off into the distance, his breathing as though he hadn't just been sprinting. His gaze slowly lowered to the floor, and he watched as the black morphed into red, suddenly becoming liquid as he fell into the blood that was once a floor. His lungs filled with the substance, the irony taste burning its way into his brain. His vision faded in one eye until it was gone, and suddenly, something felt wrong. He looked over to see his eye floating about, hanging from its socket. His stomach lurched, and then right before he felt he would lose the contents of his stomach…

-**ooo**-

Alfred sat up straight, Cat jumped off the bed, body and tail poofed up. Alfred could feel his body was covered in a cold sweat, and he was crying. Hard. He looked to his clock to see he'd slept through most of the afternoon and well into the evening; it was already eight at night. He figured it would simply be best to go back to sleep. So, he did. Though the nightmare didn't return, it still haunted him in the back of his mind.


End file.
